Thursday, January 17, 2008

So, I tuned in again for American Idol last night, this time without any ice cream. I had just enjoyed a big sushi dinner and couldn't bring myself to eat anything else, which is really saying something when ice cream is involved. Anyway, I didn't think last night's installment was as cringe-worthy as Tuesday's show had been. However, this morning, only 12 hours later, I can't remember anything that happened except for the final few minutes. As Simon would say, it was "utterly forgettable."

But what about that last guy in the crazy all-white pimped-out suit with the cape and "Simon" hat? That guy rocked. Maybe I was just completely slap-happy by that time, but I was loving how the judges and Ryan got all goofy along with him (and Paula busted out with some moves that I swear were from that video with the cartoon cat). And I can still sing that song, word for word... so it probably is going to be on iTunes soon, if it isn't already. If you didn't see it, here it is below... though it may get pulled down at any moment. His actual audition starts at 1:48, but I kept the pre-audition stuff with Ryan on there because I thought that was hilarious, too.

The "homage to Simon" at the end was awesome as well (final 30 seconds).

And, you know, I have to admit something... Ryan Seacrest has grown on me. Some of you may remember that when I didn't watch the show, I questioned the appeal of Ryan. Now I kind of get it. He does have some funny comments and seems like he's just being himself and I don't mind him at all.

Finally, I have to ask, has Simon lost his snarkiness, or what? He hardly made any mean comments last night at all! He even hugged that dude at the end?!?! Amazing.

You may have seen a few headlines about American Idol's ratings being its lowest ever. Um, don't let them fool you--it's still extraordinarily successful, way more so than most shows could ever dream of being. It's not going anywhere.

Thanks to those of you who wrote me to give me some background on how the auditions work. As I suspected, only a subset of the tens of thousands of hopefuls actually make it to Simon, Randy and Paula. They seem to be looking specifically for people with an interesting "back-story," good-looking people, and total freaks. Apparently in the first round of auditions, people only sing for about 12 seconds and they're in a huge stadium with several other people next to them, singing at the same time. So obviously someone would really have to stand out in that environment.

I'm not excited about anyone I saw who got a golden ticket, but I have hope since we didn't see everyone who got through to Hollywood yet. I will at least keep watching until they get to the actual competitions. OK, who am I kidding, I'll probably watch it all the way until the finale. Even if the writers' strike ended tomorrow, it will be months before new shows get on the air. I need my escapism, and one hour of Lost a week for 8 weeks isn't going to be enough.